Intrinsic Fascination
by pantheradraconis
Summary: Chapter 3: Attraction - "Attraction is beyond our will or ideas sometimes." -Juliette Binoche
1. Chapter 1: Viscosity vs Velocity

**Title:** Intrinsic Fascination

**Author:** pantheradraconis

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Bella/Rosalie

**Summary:** The world is filled with billions of people; a new breath is taken every second. A last breath is taken as well. But the cycle continues, on and on; who would bother noticing when someone doesn't quite fit into this cycle…

**Chapter 1: Viscosity vs. Velocity**

_Viscosity and Velocity are opposites, yet they can look the same. Viscosity causes the stillness of disinclination; velocity causes the stillness of fascination. An observer can't tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled, or because inner life is transfixingly busy._ – Susanna Kaysen

Pushing through the large wooden doors, Bella sighed as she exited the rare sunshine of the warm, autumn day. She made her way down the long walkway, in between the towering shelves of books, to the long circulation desk at the far side of the library. It never made sense to her the way the check-out desk was so far away from the exit, but the one time she brought it up she was threatened with the idea of having to move the ten foot high bookshelves. It certainly didn't explain why the strange set up was first put into play, but it did keep the girl from ever wanting to fix it. Besides, the placement never seemed to cause any problems, there were still the anti-theft brackets that had been around since the library first opened, a thousand years ago. Or at least that was Bella's best guess. She figured the date of the building was etched into the walls somewhere, but she had never bothered to look. The library itself was somewhat boring to her. The shelves were unnerving, their books seeming to hover over her, threatening to fall at any moment, and just because the main room had such high ceilings was no reason to stack the books up to the top. Bella shuddered at the mere thought of having to restock the top shelves. Luckily for her, it was rare for a person to bother with the extra assistance needed to obtain the high stacked books; this in turn decreased the times Bella had to brave the ancient rolling ladders in which to return said books.

Bella sat down on the wobbly stool behind the libraries oldest computer. A few months ago, when the library finally realized the turn of the century had occurred, the board had decided to update the entire section of search computers set up in the middle of the main room, and even open up a small computer lab deemed 'The Hot Spot'. They did not, however, upgrade the one computer that mattered, the one Bella sat at every afternoon cursing and smacking, not to mention apologizing to the few patrons that had to wait five minutes just to check out one book. Bella spun around once, the wobbly stool's squeaks echoing in the cavernous room, before placing her book bag in a small cubby space under the desk. She leaned to her left, where the long desk curved and ended against the wall behind her successfully closing that side off from any unwanted wandering children, and pushed in the power button on the ancient computer tower. The device growled and groaned before its internal fan began vibrating the outer shell. Bella turned back to her bag and pulled out a string cheese. Unwrapping the treat, Bella looked over her reflection in the computer monitor; her hair had gotten long, reaching several inches past her shoulders, and laid straight and flat against her t-shirt. The fabric read 'If you are close enough to read this, you're close enough to bite.' The saying had made Bella laugh, until Mike Newton had leaned into her in the lunch room and asked, "Promise?" Even the memory of it made Bella shiver. Sure, the boy was cute enough now that the pre-teen acne of middle school had cleared up, but she had been turning him down for ten years now, ever since he wanted to share her mat in kindergarten.

The teen finished her snack at the same time the computer finally came to life. She signed into the libraries database and clicked on the email shortcut. While the screen began loading the list of inane questions the library's email always seemed to be full of, Bella spun in her stool three more times. The sound echoed once again, but this time Mrs. Tetreau walked out of the back office, grunting in recognition of her assistant's presence. Bella truly believed that if she wasn't the chief of police's daughter, and hadn't gotten this job forced on her by her father because a teacher had caught her with a cigarette outside the gym, an _unlit_ cigarette she had just taken from Jessica Stanley to throw away after accosting the young girl for thinking smoking would be cool, Mrs. Tetreau wouldn't have even bothered to learn her name. The librarian wasn't much older than Bella's dad, probably in her 40s, but her scowl aged her face indefinitely. Sometimes the teen imagined she worked for an old goblin sorcerous who took joy from laughing at the weak peasantry. In reality, Mrs. Tetreau wasn't mean in the slightest, she just didn't care for children or noise, especially squeaking, echoing noises made solely because a teen wished for acknowledgement just for showing up to work. Taking a large clipboard from inside a desk drawer, the librarian clipped on a list of books and handed it over to Bella. The teen stood to take the proffered assignment and glanced down the list. There were a few books that needed to be ordered, a few that needed to be taken out from the back and organized into the shelves, and a few that needed to be found in general. Bella smiled down at the woman, who was the only person in Forks, Washington Bella was taller than, save children and babies. The woman scowled in return before walking back into the small office. Bella turned back to the computer, relaxed into her seat, and began her groove of rummaging through the emails. They had received three copies of a blank email from Mr. Mallory, the fourth email contained a shot message explaining why some books Lauren, his daughter, had taken out over two months ago would be late. He started to give details about their trip to London and Paris, and the issues with having the hotel the books were supposedly at send said books in the mail. Bella got bored after the first sentence consisting of, 'Lauren has a few books that will be overdue…' Clicking over to the patron accounts, Bella looked up Lauren Mallory and saw that the books were in fact three months late, having been taken out the last week of school before summer vacation. At least they were all from the summer reading list they received every year. Being in a good mood, and not wanting to bother with the ire that is the entire Mallory family, Bella deleted one month's worth of late charges from the account. She then checked over a few more emails, one including the question, 'Do you have any Shakespeare there? In English, not in the language he wrote in'. It was then Bella decided to step away from the emails for a bit, and get working on the list Mrs. Tetreau had given her.

Bella spun in the stool one last time, before hoping up and tripping slightly on her bag. Apparently a strap had been leaning out and her foot caught hold. The teen shoved the book bag back into the cubby hole and walked out past the circulation desk, around the religious section, through the biographies, and past the gardening how-to books. For being such a small town, the size of the library still surprised the teen. The walkways were clear enough, and sitting high above the shelves one could always see the exit, restroom, circulation, and reference signs, but Bella still found patrons lost amongst the books. After finding a poor ten year old boy crying because he couldn't find the bathroom, Bella took to weaving in and out of sections instead of walking down the straight path from the circulation desk to the reference desk. The fact that they were separated at all was another issue Bella had with the library set up, but she enjoyed the excuse for getting up and walking about. Sitting at the desk was another teen, the same age as Bella, with long dark hair held back in a tight pony tail, and topaz colored glasses. Finding her friend Angela completely lost in a romance novel, Bella cleared her throat and in a low voice asked, "Excuse me Miss, but would you please point me in the direction of the genealogy section." Bella added a slight accent which caused the word genealogy to sound reminiscent of genital, but the other girl was so distracted she merely nodded and pointed towards the fiction section. Bella laughed at the thoughtless action, finally rousing the other girl.

"Oh, Bella!" Angela said in surprise. She blushed, her dark tanned cheeks reddening slightly. "When did you get here?"

"I'm guessing about a half hour after you." Bella held her clipboard up against her chest and leaned lightly on the desk in front of her. The desk was half the size of the circulation one, but still stood out amongst the shelves. Bella assumed its prominence was so great due to the oversized oil painting of Aslan, the lion from C. S. Lewis' Narnia novels. The lion growled silently into the library, a quote from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe marked the bottom of the frame: 'Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,/At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,/When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,/And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.' Looking down at her friends smile, Bella couldn't help smiling in return. Something about the quiet, nerdy girl always put Bella at ease. Growing up in a small town, you really couldn't help but be different levels of acquaintances with most everyone in your class. Even if not exactly friends, it was rare for there to be a complete outsider, someone that doesn't get along with at least one other person in their class; and each year the friendships seemed to change, grow, or fall apart. That's why Bella still seemed to consider Mike and Jessica friends, despite their differences, and why Bella and Lauren had lunch together even though neither particularly had anything nice to say about the other. Maybe that wasn't the way it worked in other towns, Bella had no other experiences to compare hers too, but that was the way it worked in Forks.

"How is it that you can't get yourself over here right after school?" Angela asked, putting her book down and leaning forward on the desk.

Bella shrugged, "I just told Mrs. Tetreau I had an afternoon club."

"Which one?"

"Oh, you know, EMT training."

Angela laughed lightly, covering her mouth and trying to stay quiet. The action amused Bella as she'd never heard the girl speak over a crowd; sometimes she wondered if her friend's voice could even grow loud enough to get her in trouble. "And she actually believed that?"

Bella nodded, smiling broadly. "I know I couldn't believe my luck either. Even if I could stand the sight of blood," Bella shivered just at the thought of the sticky substance. "I don't think I'd be able to deal with any type of tragedy. Remember that time Tyler twisted his ankle in gym? I nearly had a heart attack and it had nothing to do with me, I was on the other side of the gym."

The two teens chatted away for a few more moments before Angela mentioned they "should really be getting back to work." Bella nodded and handed the clipboard over to Angela. She transcribed the list of books that needed to be ordered and handed everything else back to Bella. "I'll get these ordered for the Saturday delivery, that way we won't have to worry about categorizing the book Microwave For One, amongst others." Bella wondered off to the front of the room, weaving through the shelves once again. At one point, she thought she saw a young man she didn't recognize in the history section, but when she doubled back the area was empty. Shrugging, the teen continued her tour of the library. Bella often used the vastness of the main room to stretch her legs and alleviate her boredom. Every day after school, the teen worked the library's circulation desk; from 3pm to 6pm she answered inane questions, stocked and restocked books, and stared at the clock. After five years of the monotonous actions Bella was convinced time moved slower in the old building, keeping her captive and torturing her slowly. She knew it could be a lot worse, Mike kept trying to offer her a job at his parent's outdoor sporting goods store. Not only did the job pay less and consist of much later hours, but she would have to endure training under the teenage boy, something he was just a bit too excited about. No, Bella had decided, the library job was a safe haven in a lot of ways. One, for example, was that she never got unexpected visitors from her school. The students of the high school only showed up the day a new project was assigned, or the day before the project was due. Middle and elementary schooler's only showed up for field trips, which were during school hours and therefore not while Bella was working. And the rest of the population was not well read. Of course there were a few regulars, Mrs. Mallory actually stopped in quite frequently, but mostly spent the time reading through old Good Housekeeping magazines. The only reason the library was so well stocked and continued to stay open, was because of Beth Crowley, Bella's classmate Tyler's mother. She donated her late husband's entire life insurance plan to the library knowing how much the man loved studying old town records and maps in the public building. The library's board talked Mr. Alexander Crowley Esquire, Tyler's grandfather, out of retirement to keep the accounting books and properly invest the money. The result was the need for a few assistants, giving Bella, and a year later Angela, jobs. Tyler was also recruited by his mother to unpack the Saturday shipments, but he was considered a volunteer.

When Bella poked her head out the front of the library to prop open one of the double doors, the sun was already starting to duck behind the tall trees and extended mountains that surrounded the small town. She frowned, even when the sun decided to play nice, it seemed to get tired and go to bed early. The teen turned back to the entrance hall to see a young man standing directly behind her waiting patiently to leave. Bella jumped in surprise. The young man was a teen, maybe two years older than her, but stood about six feet tall. He had blond, wavy hair which he had tucked behind his ears and a slightly crooked nose. Bella looked over the teens features carefully, noting his pale skin, slight stubble, and a few, unimaginably paler, thin scars. One marked his chin, just off center, another shown noticeably on his neck, ducking into the collar of a finely pressed white button up shirt. The teen girl leaned forward, staring at the scar on the boy's neck; for a moment there, she thought she saw a tooth mark.

"Excuse me Miss." The voice was smooth, soft, and slightly accented. Bella leaned in more before a hand reached out and tapped her right arm. She cursed at the cold contact and snapped out of her reverie. The male seemed to smile, but the action looked pain to Bella. "Excuse me, but are you the librarian's assistant?"

Bella had to think for a moment, lost in the boy's golden eyes, but soon remembered herself. "Yes, of course I am." Her voice came out perky and loud. She coughed and shifted her stance to her right leg, crossing her arms and trying to rub the heat back into them. The two stood in silence for a few beats before Bella realized she would need to be the one to clear the tension. "Was there something you need?" She asked slowly, wondering if she sounded condescending and whether or not the blond teen would notice.

"Please, I would like to check out a book." He held up his hand, holding a large, dusty almanac.

Shifting in her stance, Bella stared at the boy a few more silent moments. Something about the teen seemed to draw her in; she had to consciously keep herself from reaching out towards the glimmering skin and caressing the cold hands of the boy. Shaking her head, Bella blinked several times before walking past him. She dared not look again, knowing she'd be kept engrossed in whatever supernatural aura the teen possessed. He must be something straight out a teen fantasy book, maybe even one of the romance novels Angela devoured. Bella laughed at her own thoughts, knowing if she spoke any of them out loud the boy would certainly think she was weird. Well, weirder then she was already portraying herself, which might be a little hard.

Finally arriving at the front desk, the teen walked around the far edge, banging her hand against the corner, and sat down in her stool, squeaking louder then she remembered it ever sounding. Hissing in response to the petit bruise already forming on the back of her hand, Bella managed to smile at the circulation desk and request the book the teen boy wished to borrow. With a practiced hand, Bella opened the book, The Civil War Almanac in Large Print, stamp the return date on the marked slip, and scan the book in the database. The computer beeped loudly and Bella realized she hadn't scanned the teen's library card yet. She then wondered if the boy had a library card and if so, how did he get it? When did he get it? Who was he? She could avoid the teen no longer; Bella looked up and saw the boy smiling at her, but the smile was more of a smirk and Bella knew at once he was laughing at her. She huffed in response and stuck her hand out, not bothering to voice her obvious request. The blond nodded solemnly before speaking.

"I'm sorry to say I haven't yet acquired a library card." Bella waited silently, wishing for more of an explanation. She wasn't sure if she would get one, but for some reason she was agitated with the well-spoken, dare she think gentlemanly, teen before her. Her own actions surprised her since she was usually well-mannered and soft-spoken. Before she could apologize, a small, far too hyper girl bounced up next to the boy. She was short, possibly even shorter than Bella, and her hair was spiked off into various directions; she grabbed onto the blond teen's arm, holding it firmly between both her hands, and squealed. Shrinking back into herself a little, Bella tried to keep from covering her ears. If the two kept on with all the racket, Mrs. Tetreau would come out and 'shoo' them away. The idea made Bella sad, but she wasn't sure why; her feelings towards the teens were quite conflicted. On one hand, something about the stance of the blond, the way he kept rigid and the thin scars on his face, made Bella squirm, and the protective hold the girl had on her boyfriend, as it was very obviously affectionate, made Bella angry. On the other hand, the girl's eagerness with life made Bella want to laugh and dance and sing, while the boy's soft voice and beautiful eyes made her want to… to… well she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do to him, but she knew she shouldn't; at least not in the library.

"Hi Bella!" The short girl quietly yelled out. Bella figured the girl must know that a library was meant to be quiet because her voice carried like a stage whisper. She smiled brightly, shiny white teeth glimmering even in the library's dull lighting. Bella began to stare at the teeth, curious as to what toothpaste the girl must use, but quickly regained her composure and blurted out a noise. It was a nondescript noise, but it did the job all the same. The small teen giggled, covered her mouth, and tugged on her boyfriend's arm.

"We will both be needing library cards." The boy's voice somehow became more inviting now that the pixie like girl stood with him. The realization made Bella sneer in response; she quickly covered her mouth, eyes wide. The teen, in response, gave her a strange look; it didn't quite seem to be in reaction to Bella's sneer, per se, but for some other unknown reason. Bella was so confused she didn't know what to do or to say.

Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, the librarian's assistant focused her attention on the air going through her lungs, she focused on her heartbeat, and she focused on the girl's last words. Opening her eyes, Bella looked up at the girl and cocked her head. "How did you know my name?"

Shaking her head and trying not to giggle any more, the teen spoke in a sing-songy voice. "You're sitting behind a name plate, silly." Bella looked down at the desk, spying the back of two desk placards. "And I'm pretty sure you're not Mrs. Tetreau."

Bella blushed. It was a bad habit of hers, one she tried desperately to avoid, but who in history had ever really accomplished not blushing? In reaction, the two teens before her seemed to lean backwards, the girls hold on her boyfriend's arm tightening. Bella noticed the small change in atmosphere, but worked hard on not getting distracted again.

"Right, okay, I'll need both of your names and you'll have to fill out these forms." The teen searched the desk, looking for the small pile of applications. Finding the stack, which only had three forms left, the teen passed out one sheet to each of her new patrons, along with two pens. She then sat quietly, watching the two fill in their information. The blond had tall, sharp hand writing that made it very difficult to read upside down; the girl, on the other hand, wrote in large, bubbly letters. Bella was amused with the similarities between the two teen's handwriting and their own personalities, at least in comparison to how much she'd experienced of the two.

"Here you are, Bella." The girl handed over both forms, followed by the two pens. Bella smiled shyly and looked over the top form. Name: Alice Cullen. There was a small doodle of a heart marking where a middle name would go. Address: 1 Olympic Dr. Clallam, WA 98331. Bella squinted at the address, not recognizing it.

"Oh, did you need a P.O. Box? We get all of our mail at the post office, its box 4475." The girl seemed to be watching Bella read over the form. In response, Bella nodded and jotted down the mailing address on the side margin.

"I don't recognize the street address you gave." She spoke it like a statement, but wished for it to be answered. Neither teen offered up any explanation, so Bella shrugged mentally and continued reading the form. Phone Number: 360-381-7885. Date of Birth: Unknown. Email address: lilpsychicpixie gmail . Notification Preference: Email. Bella nodded and began typing the information into the database. When she reached the date of birth she paused, wondering how she could have missed that answer mere seconds before. "Uh, your um date of birth is sort of needed."

"You should never ask a woman to reveal her true age." The short girl protested with a small giggle.

Bella waited, but still didn't receive a proper answer. She shrugged and filled in the slot with July 4th; looking up at the girl's face, Bella filled in the year making the girl 17. Alice smiled in response and nodded. The gesture made the teen feel warm and appreciated, she sighed happily and scanned in a new library card before saving the information. Three minutes of awkward silence passed while the computer raged in anger at having to work, before settling into a gentle hum. Bella repeated the procedure with Jasper Hale's information, noting his date of birth as being December 14th, but not including a year. Bella paused, huffed slightly, and looked up. The boy shrugged and smiled, the action making his eyes twinkle. Bella smiled back and filled in the teens age, making him 18. Alice giggled, seemingly overcome with excitement at Bella's guess. The computer repeated its angry rebellion, the tower vibrating against the shelf. Bella kicked the machine, silencing its actions. She then handed the two teens their new library cards, quickly scanning Jasper's before completing his transaction.

"What is taking you two so long?" A tall, blonde woman stood in the aisle, arms crossed. She tapped her foot expectantly and hummed angrily at Jasper and Alice. Bella stood up from her stool, not really knowing why, and stared at the woman. Not a typical gaze like the way she might look at Angela while watching her make faces at whatever she was reading, but also not really a curious gaze like how Bella used to watch Tyler play basketball, back before he turned into a pompous popular kid. The teen, leaned forward, hands on the desk, mouth open, gaping at the girl, who, in turn, scowled. The action caused Bella to flinch and focus in on the scowl. The woman's mouth curved downward, her top lip raising just enough to show off her bright white teeth; they seemed to shine more than Alice's had. The blonde's teeth had one more distinct difference: her canines seem to come down to a point, sharp and deadly.

"Rosalie," Another boy appeared in the library. Bella would have said he walked in through the front door, but she wasn't quite sure. The teen seemed to have simply appeared next to the blonde, but then again Bella had been so transfixed by the woman she wouldn't have been surprised if a hurricane had gone by. Rosalie, as the teen boy had deemed her, continued to scowl, completely unaffected by the boy.

"Right then, we should probably go." Jasper spoke quickly and had already begun moving away before his sentence was completed. "Thank you, Bella, for…"

"No wait, not yet; we aren't done here yet." Alice's voice rang like a bell, a loud school bell. "Rosie needs to get a library card too; she's going to be spending a lot of time here. And since Eddie is here, he might as well get one as well."

Bella reacted quickly, a lot faster than any one of the teens expected, herself included. She grabbed the last form and thrust it out into the air, almost whacking Alice with her hand. "Here you are." She didn't speak a name, but it was obvious Bella was offering the paper to Rosalie. Her eyes went unblinking and her hand shook while she tried to keep it held out.

The blonde teen managed to darken her scowl, a feat quite amazing in and of itself, but moved forward all the same. She took the paper, making sure not to allow any physical contact, and walked a few paces down the desk, away from the group. She quickly completed the form and handed it over to Alice. The short girl giggled and passed the form to Bella. It took her a few moments to realize she couldn't merely read the form telepathically through the blonde herself and started to sit down. A quiet huff of a laugh tore Bella's attention away from Rosalie and towards Eddie; he was attempting to hold back a laugh, but failing quite miserably. Bella, with all of her attention on everything, but what she was doing, missed her stool and promptly landed on the floor. Before anyone could flinch, Bella bounced back up and onto the stool trying to pretend like she hadn't just fallen on her backside. Rosalie, however, didn't seem to want to let the action go.

"You need to watch yourself." Her voice was deep, moody, and not at all like any of the others. The sound made Bella unexpectedly furious; she turned back towards the girl only to find she had moved. Rosalie stood behind Bella maybe three steps from where she had fallen. Bella spun around completely, shifting slightly off the stool, but leaned on the desk for support. "There you go again, stop doing that."

Bella fumed, just who did this girl think she was? "You aren't allowed back here." She snapped. The last thing she needed was for this haughty girl to get her in trouble. "Shoo, off with you." Bella couldn't believe she had just said those words; she sounded exactly like Mrs. Tetreau. She sighed in exasperation.

"Did you seriously just 'shoo' me away like a farm animal?"

"If that's the way you have to interpret it to get you to move, then yeah sure."

"Why you little…" The blonde woman growled, actually growled at Bella, and crouched as if she was going to strike her down. Bella closed her eyes, hands up in surrender; a small voice, not quite her own, but still coming from her lungs, squeaked out a quiet, fearful noise. It couldn't exactly be defined as a scream, but Bella felt it was bigger than a whimper.

"On that note, we should really be leaving now." Jasper spoke, completely at ease. Bella opened one eye, then the other. There was no crazy blonde in front of her. She turned back to the front of the desk where Jasper and Eddie stood, unmoving, completely still. That is just unnatural, Bella thought to herself.

Eddie swayed gently and readjusted his feet. He smiled down at her and nodded a farewell. "I will return at a later date to get my own library card." With that, the two boys walked out of the library leaving Bella alone and very confused. She sat staring down the aisle to the front door, past the entrance and out into the late afternoon air. Her body barely shifted, only her chest moved in accordance with her breathing, her lip trembled slightly. Bella was overcome with emotions, but unable to act on any of them. The thoughts racing through her head were so great in number the teen believed she might be thinking everything, yet nothing at the same time. Was the thought of the teens, of Rosalie, holding her still, or was she keeping herself engrossed in her mind by keeping her body immobile.

Angela walked up along the desk from off to the right. Leaning on the desk she looked Bella up and down before knocking on the desk and asking if 'anyone was home'. Bella flinched and turned to her friend. "You okay there Bells?" Bella blinked a few times and nodded affirmatively. "You got a few new patrons?" Angela leaned down onto her forearms and looked over the application forms. Shuffling through the bunch she grunted, "I heard a new family was moving in. The hospital just accepted a new doctor into their ranks, a Dr. Cullen. My mom said he and his wife had five adopted teenagers. Were they nice?"

Wondering how Angela, the quietest girl she had ever met, always seemed to know the newest gossip before anyone else, Bella nodded and smiled, but crinkled the application in her hands. The sound reminded her of the mixed experience she had with one tall, blonde, witch of a girl, but Angela's words were what Bella responded to, "Family? Adopted? They were all adopted? Well, I guess that makes it fine, if they aren't actually related." Bella began contemplating the relationship between Jasper and Alice and wondered if she should say anything about it. Deciding it could wait, she explained to Angela who exactly had come into the library that afternoon. "They were very nice. You said there were five? Four of them came in, I guess. Alice, Jasper, Eddie and…" She scowled and lowered her voice, "Rosalie."

Reaching out to take the form from Bella, Angela laughed lightly at the aggression in Bella's voice. She had only ever heard her friend use that tone when talking about Mike, and then it was more in frustration than in any sort of actual anger. Bella, however, wouldn't let go of the application. Smiling a tight lipped smile, Bella kept the form until her friend gave up trying to take it away from her. She then placed it down on the desk and smoothed out all the wrinkles. Leaning in, the two girls looked over the paper for a few moments in silence. Finally, Angela looked up at Bella and asked, "Could you translate that into English? I don't really speak cursive."

Bella laughed, a big hearty laugh that filled the entire library. The noise brought Mrs. Tetreau out from the back office. She looked between the two girls, down at the applications, and over to the clipboard she had given Bella earlier that afternoon. It had sat, untouched for the past half hour. Mrs. Tetreau huffed, tapped a pen against her hand a few times, and then turned back in the office. Bella turned back to Angela, giggled quietly then got back to work.

….

It was 6:30 when Bella finally left the library. She had been stuck working thirty minutes after close just to complete the list Mrs. Tetreau had given her. Internally she scowled at her luck; externally she smiled at her father waiting in his cruiser to drive her home. She had gotten her license a few months earlier, having failed the test the first time, but a new vehicle hadn't been on the list of essentials just yet. Bella didn't care too much, she got around just fine by riding with friends or occasionally riding her bike, but the idea of owning her own car was a dream of all teenagers. The teen opened the cruiser door and climbed in. She promptly closed the door on her own foot, but fixed herself with no notice from her father. Bella secretly believed her father pretended not to notice her missteps just to make her feel better; the thoughtful gesture certainly worked. They rode home in companionable silence, much the same as most of their trips, and arrived at the house in only five minutes. Normally Bella walked home due to her father, Charlie's, awkward hours; the trip would only take her twenty minutes, thirty if it was raining heavily, and little bit longer if she was having an especially klutzy day. Bella ducked inside the house, dropping her book bag on the living room couch, just to the left of the entry way, and made her way over to the kitchen, directly opposite. Boiling water and heating up some pasta sauce, Bella whipped up spaghetti for dinner while her father set the dining room table. It was a custom for the two to eat a formal dinner on a Friday evening. Although the conversation tended to stay simple, the company was appreciated by both participants, and it was a sentimental practice. Growing up, Bella, her mother and her father would sit down at the table for every meal they could. As the years went by, Charlie was promoted to chief of police and his hours became more sporadic; meals were shared between Bella and her mother while Charlie ate the left overs sitting on the couch in front of a sports game. When Bella's grandparents died, her father spent more and more time working, completely absorbing himself in the problems of other people instead of looking at his own emotions. The family started to pull apart, Bella acted out at school, and soon Renee, Bella's mother, decided to leave for sunny Arizona. Bella, at the young age of ten, was asked to choose between her parents. Her mother reached out for her, with tender words and soft smiles, but Bella chose her father. She remembered the look on his face, how sad and guarded he was; Bella knew someone had to help him. Seven years later, the teenager still believed she had made the right choice. She spoke with her mother on the phone often, visiting once a year, but the relationship she had with her father was cut out of a rough stone. It took a while of persistent bugging, for a time Bella showed up at the station with a small meal and forced the chief to sit at his desk until he finished every last bite, but Bella succeeded in convincing her father to always sit down for a Friday dinner together. It was a small gesture, and a bit silly when she looks back at her actions, but when Charlie rose out of his depression Bella knew it had a lot to do with Friday night dinner.

"A new family just moved into the area." Charlie cleaned some sauce from his mustache as he spoke. "The Cullen's, they just moved down here from Alaska."

"Sounds cold; Pass the butter?" Bella reached out to receive the condiment and smothered a piece of white bread before wrapping it around a large helping of spaghetti. The result was messy, but made Bella moan at the taste.

"Make sure you chew that." The man made a face at his daughter, a mixture between concern for her health and a little bit of disgust at such a large bite.

"An jello bed heefer his editor." Bella's words were muffled and confusing, her last bite still very much in her mouth.

"Finish what's in your mouth before you talk." Charlie responded, a small bite of bread still being chewed himself.

Bella smiled, but waited until she was done chewing to repeat her comment. "Angela said the father is a doctor." She gulped down some milk. "And that he took a job at the hospital."

Charlie nodded, "And Mrs. Cullen is an interior decorator. They bought a house outside of town; I'm driving up there tomorrow to welcome them to the area." Charlie wiped his hands on a napkin and began cleaning up this area. "You are, of course, invited to come."

The teen dropped her fork; it clanked off the side of her plate, spun and landed on the carpeted floor. Spaghetti sauce splattered, marking a large stain on the grey fabric. Charlie bent down and rubbed at the stain with his napkin, it spread, but rubbed further into the carpet making it no worse for wear. Standing up, he picked up the fork and added it to his pile. When he returned, Bella still hadn't moved.

"You know, all you had to say was no thank you." Charlie watched his daughter sit, staring off into space for a few more seconds before tapping her on the shoulder.

"Rosalie."

Confused, the older man asked, "Sorry?"

"What?" Bella blinked. She couldn't believe just how often she had lost her head that day. What was going on in her brain? She'd never had anyone affect her so much, and so violently. She felt her thoughts rush around her mind so quickly she couldn't keep track of them. "What were you saying?"

Charlie crouched down, eye level with his daughter. "Bells," He searched the teen's confused expression for any obvious signs. "Have any of your friends, maybe that Jessica Stanley, offered you something? Maybe even pressured you to try something you didn't want?" Bella laughed at her father, but he ignored the sound and continued, "Anything that might, I don't know, take all your cares away?"

"Dad, dad, seriously, it's okay." Bella laughed harder, trying to keep herself focused on the conversation, but too amused with the situation. "I'm not taking drugs, it's nothing like that." Bella shook her head and relaxed, a deep breath calming her. "I met some of the Cullen's today, a couple of the kids. I was just thinking about it and got lost in thought."

"Oh, well, what a relief." Charlie stood up, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Good, that's good. Well then, we'll be going around 4, at the end of my shift; that way we won't be interrupting any meals." With that he walked out of the room and turned on the television.

Bella knew there wouldn't be any more discussions that evening, so she cleaned up her own dinner, put the leftovers in the fridge, and grabbed her book bag before heading up into her room. The clock on her bedside table read 8pm; she wondered when it had gotten so late. Settling into her comfy desk chair, Bella opened her laptop and immediately signed on. In seconds, rather than minutes, she was checking her email and signed into the town's social network. The small laptop speakers sang out the billboard top 40 while Bella updated her private online journal. Ah, this is how a computer is meant to work, she thought to herself, pushing the small device far beyond the library computer's bare minimum limits. Bella wrote about her day in scattered detail. She described her morning routine as, 'Woke up today at the same time, showered and dressed in the usual way. Got to school two minutes late and was scolded by Mr. Jefferson.' She explained a small lecture about Rome falling because of tardy students and then fast forwarded to her interaction with Mike at lunch. The reminder made her scowl, which in turn made her wonder if she looked as beautiful as Rosalie did when she scowled. Bella stopped typing, the thought had surprised her. Did she find Rosalie beautiful? With her long, golden hair, her piercing lilac colored eyes, and her statuesque build, how could anyone not find the teenager beautiful? Bella frowned and crossed her arms, if the girl weren't such a pain maybe… But Bella didn't know where that thought was going. She'd never asked anyone out, was junior year in high school really the time to start? And would it be too soon? Really the girl and her family had just moved here, maybe she wanted to settle down a bit before jumping in a car with a stranger. Where would even I get a car? Bella crossed her right foot over her opposite knee and began tapping her leg in rhythm with the pop song currently playing. She wondered where they would go in her imaginary car, what they would do. Would Rosalie kiss her, on a first date?

"Oh my god," Bella let the words slip out of her mouth, "What if Tyler asks her out?" The thought hadn't occurred to Bella before, but now she couldn't think of anything else. Tyler was the most popular boy in school; he was good looking, charming, and the Cullen's didn't know about the long list of girls he'd already gone through. This would mean, "I'd have competition." The words were a whisper, and Bella knew no one was around to hear her, but speaking the words made her feel self-conscious. She glanced around her room abruptly. It was well lit, filled with deep purples and blues, and very messy. Her clothes flowed out of her dresser and onto the floor next to her bed, her walls were lined with photographs of her and her friends, various monuments and shrubbery from school trips, and a few artsy pictures Angela had taken in photography club. But none of this caught the teenager's attention; instead her eyes were draw to the tree outside her window. It was an old cedar tree, tall and broad, that had been growing in the back yard since before the house had been built. The lowest branch was level with Bella's bedroom window so she had never feared anyone climbing up and creeping in, but for the tiniest of moments the teen thought she saw a boy sitting on the branch. It was crazy, Bella knew, but it fit very well in the theme of her mind that day so she wasn't too quick to dismiss the idea. Instead, the teen stood and walked over to her window; she scanned the small yard, dimly lit by the house windows, and looked out into the forest that continued behind her house. Her eyes scanned the trees, her ears listened for any noise, but all she saw were trees and all she heard was the light babbling of the Calawah River. The teenager shivered and pulled her window down tight, even going as far as locking it, something she wasn't sure she had ever done. Anxious from all the excitement, Bella went back to her computer and lost herself in a nonsense game site. At one in the morning, the teen could barely keep her eyes open so she finally changed into a pair of pajamas pants and an old Mariner's tee, brushed her teeth, and crawled into bed.

That night she dreamt of a beautiful monster with long blonde hair, rock hard skin, and fangs dripping with blood.

**A/N: Well, that was the first chapter of a new fanfic I'm working on. The idea came to me when trying to think of new things to write for my fic Vocalise. I kept wanting to start with a clean slate and see what I could do, so now I'm actually do it. Anyways, this fic obviously has a few changes from the Twilight universe, the first being fangs, the second being Bella's gift (Edward did hear her thoughts while in the library). I haven't worked out all of the kinks, but I'm messing around with different vampire worlds (Vampire Diaries and Vladimir Todd being two) and trying to pick out the things I like and ignore the things I don't.**

**This story is going to be in only two points of view, if any. Bella is the primary, but I'm thinking of writing some from Rosalie's perspective. Tell me, what do YOU think?**

**Also, and finally, if you appreciate my fanfics, please take the time to check out my personal writing. You can find the link in my profile. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2: True Natures

**Title:** Intrinsic Fascination

**Author:** pantheradraconis

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Bella/Rosalie

**Summary:** The world is filled with billions of people; a new breath is taken every second. A last breath is taken as well. But the cycle continues, on and on; who would bother noticing when someone doesn't quite fit into this cycle…

**Chapter 2: True Natures**

_At which point should we let go and do what we want to do, and when should we submit to rules? Coming to terms with our true natures and who we really are has always been a fascination to humans. I know it fascinates me._ - Hugh Jackman

**That night she dreamt of a beautiful monster with long blonde hair, rock hard skin, and fangs dripping with blood.**

Bella woke suddenly; sweat dripping off her brow, lungs working on overdrive. Her dream was a vague memory to her, something about moving at incredible speeds, soaring through the air. She was running through the woods, into the mountains, but the ground seemed to vanish beneath her. She was looking for something, no hunting for something, someone. There was a scent calling out to her, or was it a sound, a beat, a pulse. The dream had turned into a jumble of verbs and adjectives to the groggy teen. She stretched, then stretched some more, before checking the clock. It was 9 am on a Saturday morning. The teen rolled out of bed and crawled her way to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth and showering, she found a pair of dark khaki pants and a light green t-shirt. Bella made her way downstairs to find some breakfast. Her father had already left for work, so the teen poured herself a bowl of Rice Krispies and ate while watching a rerun of Ghostly Encounters. The show always intrigued Bella, something about the supernatural pulled at her interest. She knew ghosts must really exist, but to be able to see them, or even talk to one, the idea made her shiver with excitement. She quickly got lost in her favorite channel, losing the entire Saturday to hauntings and possessed children. In the afternoon, when reruns of Mobsters took over the Bio channel, Bella picked up her cereal bowl and various snack wrappers. She cleaned the dishes loitering in the sink and jogged up the stairs back to her room. Suddenly bored, the teen decided to redesign her room. She tore off all her blankets and sheets and rolled the ball down the hall, into the laundry room. She started the washing machine before going through the hallway closet for new bedding. The choices left her wanting, but she wasn't sure what for. She wanted a new color, or a new design. Bella went back to her room and turned her laptop on. She had only meant to turn her music player on, but a half hour disappeared to nothing in particular. The laundry was quickly switched to the dryer, and Bella was once again in her room, wishing for something new.

Her current favorite song came on; she cranked the volume up and began dancing around. With a new push of enthusiasm, the teen shoved her bed up against the wall, just under the window. She shoved her bedside table up against the outside of the bed and noticed her phone light up; she picked it up, flipped it open and saw a text message from her friend Angela. She read the text then dropped the phone. It was about Rosalie. Bella picked the phone back up and quickly re-read the text; maybe she had read it wrong the first time, maybe it was all just wishful thinking, but no, it was right there in black and white: 'Ull never believe who came in the lib looking 4 u! Rosalie! She even asked Tyler if u were workin 2day.' Bella squealed and threw her phone up into the air. It hit the ceiling before collapsing down on the bed behind her; the teen scrambled over to it checking to make sure she didn't damage the device. It wasn't a smartphone or anything really expensive, but if she broke it she knew her father wasn't going to just replace it. She'd have to learn a lesson or whatever about taking care of her property and wait for a month or two to get a new one. Bella scooped her phone up and cradled it in her hands.

There was no obvious damage, so she flipped it back open and quickly replied, 'R u srs?' Bella hit send and stared at her phone in anticipation.

The seconds lasted hours, but the vibration still surprised her when the response came back, 'Duh' Bella jumped up and down, but kept a firm grip on her phone. She danced around a moment before a thought came to her mid dance move; she looked a bit like a cartoon character that got paused. Why? Why was Rosalie looking for her? The teen grasped the phone firmly and began typing the question in, but a new text appeared first, 'I gave her ur #' Bella froze, unsure what to do or what to say. Another message came in, 'I knew u wouldnt mind. Ur so easy to read.' Bella laughed hysterically. She couldn't help herself; she was overjoyed, confused, scared, shocked, and exhilarated. It was quite possibly true that her own crush, of a mere 24 hours mind you, liked her too! Then she deflated, maybe Rosalie just liked her as a friend, or maybe she even hated Bella and wanted to torture her. No, Angela was so good at figuring people out, it was like she could read their intentions. If she thought Rosalie had bad motives, she never would have handed out Bella's number; if anything, the teen probably already interrogated the girl.

Bella quickly replied, 'u didnt question her rt?'

The response came in immediately, 'of crs I did ;-)'

Bella pouted at her phone then relaxed into an awkward smile. She wasn't upset her friend questioned the new girl; she was jealous she hadn't been there. It was weird, now that Bella was away from Rosalie and all her siblings, she felt good, happy, but when they were face to face her emotions were all over the place. It must have just been jitters, she thought to herself, despite the fact that she'd never acted with such ferocity before. She sighed and collapsed unto her bed. After a moment, her phone buzzed again. When she lifted it up to see what Angela said, she saw it was a new message from an unknown number. It was probably just a spam text, or some ad from a radio station. The teen opened the message, expecting to just delete it, but instead read, 'Hi, this is Rosalie. Angela gave me your number.' Bella read it over again and again when another message popped up, 'I hope you don't mind. I wanted to apologize for yesterday.'

"Yes!" The teen yelled out into the room, dropping her phone lightly beside her; she jumped up on her bed and began playing the air guitar. This was the display her father walked into.

"Uh, Bells?" He asked, cautiously walking into the room towards the desk and turning the volume down on his daughter's laptop speakers. The teen spun around to see her father staring at her, amused expression on his face. "You ready to go?"

"Go? Go where?" Bella got down from her bed, smoothed down her clothing and looked up curiously at her father.

"To the Cullen's; remember, you said you'd go with me after my shift?"

"Oh yeah, yeah I remember, but wasn't that at four?" Bella turned to her clock, but it had been unplugged when she moved the bed and the table, and her father was standing in front of her laptop, the only other clock she could think of in the room.

"It's quarter after." Charlie tapped his watch, "Time to go." He walked out the room and down the stairs, saying over his shoulder, "Hurry up Bells, it's a thirty minute drive."

Bella grabbed her phone and quickly responded to Rosalie's text. 'RU home?' She then sent a quick thanks to Angela, receiving a smiley in response, along with a demand for all the details on Sunday.

The teen smiled at her friends request before switching over to Rosalie's response. 'Yeah, why?'

'C U in 30.' Bella laughed at the text she got from Rosalie asking what the teen meant. She sent a quick wink smiley and left it at that. The teen ran down the stairs and out the door, settling in the cruiser. She smiled at her father and began running through the radio presets. Finding a station that was actually playing music, Bella leaned back in her chair, drumming her thumbs on her lap and staring out the window. She could hardly contain her excitement.

"Now I called Mrs. Cullen earlier this morning, to let her know we were stopping by." Charlie explained as he turned up route 101. They left the village of Forks behind and headed in the direction of Port Angeles. Bella watched every house go by wondering if the next one would be the Cullen's. When Charlie started slowing down to turn onto Maxfield Rd, Bella wondered if the family had bought the mansion that was for sale on Steelhead, Mr. Cullen was a doctor after all, but instead her father passed the small neighborhood and continued to the end of the drive. He turned down a road sitting off to the left; Bella didn't see a name anywhere, so she figured it was an extension of Maxfield, but the road had narrowed significantly and there were patches of grass growing in various cracks down the middle. Charlie frowned at the trees closing in around them. "Mrs. Cullen explained they lived down this old logging road. I just hope it stays paved all the way; I don't think the cruiser would be able to handle a washed out gravel road." He laughed, but the sound was strained. Bella knew her father hated the claustrophobic feel of old country lanes, but she loved them. The drive continued, the road staying paved and clear, for another fifteen minutes; there was one right turn, marked with a handcrafted sign reading, 'The Cullens', and Bella assumed this to be their driveway, but the difference between the road and the turn was slight if any. The forest finally opened to a gorgeous, classic manor. Bella didn't know what she had expected before, but it certainly wasn't what she found. The home was old fashioned, yet homey and well taken care of. It was three stories, painted white with colonial accents and something more, something exotic. The driveway ended in a turnabout with a large, three-door garage to the right.

Charlie drove the cruiser around the circle, pulling over a few paces past the front door. He tapped on his daughter's shoulder and told her to stop her drooling and get out the car. Bella complied, but she couldn't make any promises about drooling. She had never seen a house this beautiful before. On TV, there were plenty of movie stars with estates that were made out of gold, but this house felt inviting, homey even.

"Welcome to our home, Chief Swan." Bella looked up to see a beautiful woman standing at the front door. She had a heart shaped face and billows of soft, caramel colored hair; for a strange moment she reminded the teen of her mother. Bella looked over to her father, who looked like he was also drawn into the woman's presence. The teen wondered what her father saw in the woman; she then quickly erased the thought and walked up the door, her father a step behind her. "And you must be Bella." The teen was scooped up into a hug before she knew what happened, but instead of being embarrassed about hugging a woman she just met, Bella felt safe. "Rosalie has said so much about you." The teen blushed and thought she heard the woman say she smelled nice, but it was barely a whisper so Bella must have misheard. "I'm Esme Cullen, please do come in." Mrs. Cullen shook hands with Charlie and the three entered the front door.

The house immediately opened up to a large living space. Bella assumed the home used to be made up of smaller rooms, but the walls were all removed to create a flowing feel, like the air of the house simply carried a person through it. To the left was a massive stair case, easily twice the size of the front door; the upstairs hallway curved around, edged with the continued banister. The teen looked to her right and saw the entrance to a beautiful kitchen that reminded her of elaborate cooking shows. The guests were ushered into the living room where a young man stood next to a pale cream colored couch. He was blond and looked to have just stepped off a movie screen. Bella wondered if this was the fifth adopted child Angela had been talking about. He stepped forward with grace and held out his hand to shake Charlie's. "Chief Swan, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen, welcome. Please, have a seat. And you must be Isabella, welcome." Bella was surprised at what she heard, but was silenced into comment by Mr. Cullen's bright, blue eyes.

Catching the teen staring, Mrs. Cullen stepped up to her husband, taking his arm in hers and said, "He looks like a blond Sinatra, doesn't he?" She laughed, kissed his cheek and walked towards the kitchen. "Can I get you any refreshments? Lemonade? Tea?"

Bella blushed, Charlie grunted, and they both sat down. Mrs. Cullen laughed lightly before disappearing into the kitchen. Carlisle took his seat and the three sat in silence while the hostess rushed about the kitchen, clanging glasses and opening and closing the fridge. She reappeared faster than Bella expected and placed a tray down on the coffee table. Mr. Cullen smiled at his guests, while Mrs. Cullen poured out three glasses of lemonade from a pitcher and handed one each to Bella and her father; she then sat down with her own and smiled at the group. Bella knew instantly that this woman loved hosting.

Bella, on the other hand, never knew what to do or say when she was a guest in someone else's home; especially a place she'd never been to with people she'd never met. For a moment she wondered why she had even bothered to come with her father, but then the reason walked into the room. Bella stood up, bumping her shin into the coffee table and almost spilling her lemonade. Hissing slightly, she smiled towards the approaching blonde, who, in turn, frowned. "You're going to seriously hurt yourself one of these times."

"I'm not really that talented," Bella quipped back. "I bruise and scar, but broken bones have never been on my medical chart."

"Did you just reference 'medical chart' as if it were a 'rap sheet'?" Eddie's voice buzzed in. Once again he was directly next to Rosalie, but, once again, Bella had missed his appearance. The bronze-haired boy smiled knowingly, but Bella wasn't sure what exactly he seemed to know.

"Rosalie, Edward, this is Chief Swan; and you've already met his daughter." Carlisle introduced the pair. "Where are the others?" Bella listened to the patriarch's voice with a sigh. It was warm and smooth, like an old folk song; you could just hear the relaxing tones in every word.

"Sorry old man, we're here." A big burly teen, with short curly hair walked into the room from somewhere behind the other two teens baring a huge, goofy grin. Behind him were Alice and Jasper; they waved companionably, but Bella noticed a weird expression on Jasper's face; he was staring at Mr. Cullen, confused.

"Your tardiness has been noted." This time, when Carlisle spoke, his words sounded harsh, as if he were trying not to shout them. Bella watched as all five teens snapped to attention and stared at their adopted father. Rosalie, Alice and the boy Bella didn't know, all looked shocked, while Edward stared open mouthed and confused. Jasper, on the other hand, turned his attention back to Bella. The teen froze; the stare, though not unkind, made her skin crawl. She went to sit back down, but instead Jasper gestured for her to follow him into the other room. Quickly whispering to be excused, she complied, uncomfortable with the situation, but unsure what else to do.

The two teens walked down a small stretch of hallway, where Bella got a clear glimpse of the back of the house; the wall had been taken out and replaced with glass, an entire wall of glass. Behind her, the teen could hear an awkward apology followed by even more awkward assurances. Jasper turned to the left and into a smaller room completely void of furniture except for a black grand piano. Bella passed the teen and walked up to the piano; she had never played, but the beauty of the instrument made her want to slide her fingers over the keys. She heard the door shut and spun around. Jasper stood a few steps away from her, staring. No, it was more severe than that, Jasper was glaring at Bella with a snarl on his lips. She blushed and cowered slightly, slowly lowering her body onto the piano bench.

"How did you do that?" The teen boy asked.

"Do what? I don't know what I did?" Bella's voice was confused, alarmed, and unsure. But Jasper knew immediately she wasn't lying. He frowned, and leaned back on his right leg, crossing his arms.

Edward walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He came to stand next to Jasper and the two looked at each like they were going to say something, but after a moment of silence, the two looked back at Bella. Edward smirked. "Bella, do you believe in the supernatural?" The teen immediately starting thinking about all the TV shows she loved to watch and the debates she had had with Ashley Dowling about whether or not werewolves were more tangible then humans that could morph into any animal at will, or how many fortune teller's in the world were legitimate. She looked up to see both Edward and Jasper smiling at her. She frowned, feeling like she was on the outside of an inside joke. Edward nodded; he then brought his eyebrows together for a moment.

"What? What are you thinking?" Bella pointed at Edward walking right up to him. "What are you thinking right now?"

"Well, I guess you could say a couple of things." Bella had already decided she was not a fan of the pompous way Edward spoke to her. "One, werewolves are far more tangible. Two, a surprisingly large amount of fortune tellers are legitimate, but they rarely charge money, instead demanding far more important items. Three and this is the confusing part, the Lakers beat the SuperSonics, but after that the lyrics just get uncomfortable." Bella blinked several times. At first she was shocked at what Edward had been saying, thinking he was possibly reading her mind, but the last comment was so off topic she barely had time to dwell on the idea of telepathy. Edward scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that's the part I don't get either. It was a line from a Jay-Z song, but I don't know where the thought came from."

Bella was about to claim Edward was the one to say it, but she was cut off by Jasper. "It wasn't his thought, it was someone else's; Edward just heard it."

The teen girl's mouth opened and closed, but no noise came out. She coughed, much louder than she expected to, but finally cleared her throat out. "Okay, sure, why not." Bella starting pacing back and forth between the two boys, "Let's just say for a second that you're telepathic and this isn't just some sick joke." The two boys laughed, but Bella tried to ignore it. "Then what am I thinking right now, Jasper?"

"Oh," The blond was taken off guard. "I'm not like Edward; I have no idea what you're thinking."

"You were repeating the word 'lilac' over and over." Edward quipped in.

Bella frowned, but nodded. She had been thinking the color, but she'd been thinking more specifically about what a lovely color it was for a beautiful blonde girl's eyes. "So then why were you the one that keeps looking at me weird?" Bella asked the blond. "What am I doing that's causing you to glower and growl?"

The teen rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, "You heard that?" He sounded genuinely sorry, but it didn't make Bella any more comfortable with the act. "I didn't mean to, it's just. Something about you makes it so hard, I can't control it. The emotions keep changing and then it ricochets and latches onto random people."

Bella looked back and forth between Edward and Jasper, but they seemed to be having the same problem with understanding what exactly was going on. Edward spoke up, "It seems that something about you, some sort of power you might not know you have, is conflicting with us and causing our own to lash out of control."

"I'm sorry, but you can't really be serious." The teen laughed; when she caught the look of both boys' frowns, she laughed harder. "First you want me to believe that you're telepathic, second you want me to believe that you are, what, a super empath? Or are you just overly emotional?" Bella questioned while pointing towards each boy in turn. She didn't wait for an explanation, she wasn't sure she trusted either of the two teens in front of her to give her an honest response. "And then, after all that mumbo jumbo, you want me to believe that I, also, am crazy, and more importantly, my crazy messes with your crazy."

Edward scratched the back of her head. He opened his mouth, but no words made an appearance. Jasper shuffled his feet looking down at the floor and shrugged. Bella looked between the two boys unsure what should happen next. It was the perfect time for a commercial break, so she decided to break apart from the group. Neither boy tried to stop her as the teen made her way out of the room. Her mind was racing with the possibilities of what had just happened. Yeah sure, she had always loved the supernatural, it was fascinating, and if you had asked her just a few hours earlier she would have argued that any of it could be true and most of it was. But now that she was facing something so blatant in the face Bella wondered if it was all just a joke. When it's on TV it's real, but when it makes an appearance in her real life its fake; is that honestly what she's trying to tell herself?

Bella looked around to see where in the house she had wondered off to. It was immediately apparent she had turned the wrong way out of the piano room, but the view she was given made it all worthwhile. The teen passed through a glass French door to the back yard patio. There was a creek running across the edge of the mowed lawn, the opposite side lined with the thick forest. The yard made Bella feel like she was alone on an island, but instead of being surrounded by water, she was surrounded by trees. What made the teen girl feel at ease with this idea was the tall, blonde teen standing with her back to the younger girl. Rosalie leaned on the railing of the wooden deck facing away from the house. Her back leaned slightly forward, exposing the tiniest amount of skin between her tight fit jeans and a thin, soft looking shirt that hugged the blonde's curves so perfectly it made Bella purr.

"Staring isn't polite, you know." Rosalie said before turning towards the younger teen. The blonde smiled at Bella's blush. "I can't say I particularly mind though." Bella's blush darkened and the teen was shocked she could keep herself standing.

The brunette cleared her throat and said, "Will you go out with me?" Both girls were surprised at the younger teen's question. "Shit, I meant, how are you?"

Rosalie recovered quickly, "Those two sentences don't exactly sound the same." Her voice was light and airy, and held just a small amount of teasing.

"Yeah," Bella didn't know if she could blush any deeper of a color, but her body seemed sure it was going to try. She quickly looked down, letting her hair cover her face. "I know you just moved here, so I was going to wait, but Tyler is so popular."

"And you aren't?"

Bella laughed the heat from her face finally lifting as the conversation eased forward. "Yeah, no, not me, I'm just, well I'm just Bella."

"What's wrong with 'Just Bella'?" Rosalie took a few steps forward, walking right up to Bella and reaching her hand out towards the shorter girls face. Her fingers pushed back some of Bella's hair, making it impossible for the girl to hide her face away.

"Uh," The words that the teen girl wanted to say were eloquent, smooth, intelligent, and sexy. Why on earth was she grunting? Rosalie's hand dropped to her side and Bella immediately missed the contact. She thought about reaching out to the blonde before her, but a voice caused her to stumble back instead.

"You ready to go Bells?" Charlie's voice came from the hallway. The first thought Bella had was how much she hoped her dad hadn't seen the two standing so close, so intimately. She hadn't ever had a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. Sure, the teen had dated, she even went to a movie with Tyler back in middle school, but going steady was something completely different. And even then, the teen was pretty certain she wouldn't want to be caught by her father in any type of embrace, innocent or not.

"I'm here, dad." Bella had turned to face the house, looking at her father's bemused face. She wasn't sure if he had seen anything, or he was simply reacting to her wording. "I mean, I'm coming. That is, I'll be right there." The teen turned back to her blonde companion. "I have to go."

"I think I got that." Rosalie nodded and smiled. It was apparent to the shorter teen that Rosalie was trying not to outright laugh at her.

"Yeah," Bella stared up at the blonde teenager, but didn't say any more. After a moment, she realized their conversation was over and turned to leave. Rosalie didn't try to stop her. The brunette wasn't sure what that lack of a gesture meant, but she knew immediately she was over thinking it.

"Yes you are." Edward's voice came from the right, just as Bella passed the piano room. She looked in to see the teen sitting at the piano, softly pressing the keys and playing out a beautifully sad song. Bella watched for a moment, lost in the music, and forgot to make any sardonic comments, or even to say goodbye when the song ended and she had turned away.

It took a half hour to drive home, an hour to make and eat dinner, and two more hours for Bella to realize that Rosalie had never answered her question. She went to sleep wishing she had never said anything to the beautiful blonde.

….

Early Sunday afternoon Bella found herself wondering through town. She had spent the morning working on homework and sporadically taking down and putting back up various pictures and decorations in her room. Now the teen was riding her bike to the Forks Coffee shop on South Forks Ave to meet up with Angela. The trip was a normal occurrence for the young teen and only took her a few minutes to complete. Bella leaned her bike up against the side of the shop, just to the right of the entrance, and left it unchained. Her father always told her it was going to be stolen one day, but the teen had yet to see it happen and therefore didn't bother with the extra work. Whenever she rode her bike to school, on the very few sunny occasions, she locked the bike to the rail, but only to keep another student, in the after school excitement, from accidentally taking the wrong bike. That _had_ happened to Bella, but the whole situation was sorted out before anyone even left the school premises.

The diner was filled up with families dressed in their Sunday best. By some amount of luck Angela always possessed, the brunette had acquired the same booth the two teens sat at every time they met in the coffee shop. Bella smiled at her friend and weaved through the group. She waved at a few people she knew, always keeping the bright smile of the Chief's daughter in place, before sliding into the bench seat across from her friend and reaching up to pet the nose of the stuffed Elk head decorating the middle pillar of the room.

"Hi Elky, hi Angela," Bella said to each in turn.

"I don't know whether I should be annoyed or amused that you always say hi to 'Elky' before me." Angela replied, a big smile of her face. The two fell into conversation quickly, both ordering coffee and sharing the diner's special Galaxy Famous pancakes. By the time the breakfast plate showed up, Bella had already dished on the failures of her and Rosalie's conversation the afternoon before.

"Something about her, I don't know, she just takes my breath away." Bella said dreamily before stuffing a huge bite of syrupy pancake in her mouth.

Angela giggled before asking, "And what about Edward and Jasper? What do you think about their powers?" Bella frowned and chewed her way through her mouthful of pancake. Angela was missing the point, the problem Bella had was with Rosalie, not with the boys. They were just being weird; it was probably a practical joke. But no matter what the teenager said, her friend wouldn't let it go.

"You can't still be serious?" Bella blew on her coffee, holding the warm cup between both hands. "They're a joke; there's no reason to believe in any of the mumbo jumbo they were ranting on about."

"But everything they said was true. I just know it." Angela's words were said with such conviction Bella found herself believing Angela, then she saw the reflection of two young men walking through the front entrance. The teen swiveled around in her seat just in time to catch Edward's crooked grin. He quickly made his way through the crowd to Bella's table and slipped into the bench seat next to her. Jasper, a few paces behind his brother, stopped at the side of the table and asked politely whether or not he and his brother could join the 'two young ladies', as he put it. Angela blushed, but welcomed the tall blond to join her side of the booth.

"To what do we owe this… pleasure?" Bella spit the last word out, trying to stay calm. She looked over the table at Jasper; the teen squirmed a little before coughing and turning to his bench mate. Angela smiled brightly at the uncomfortable teen. The gesture seemed to relax him and, strangely enough, a calmness ran over Bella as well. She took a deep breath and decided to, at the very least, be congenial with the Cullen boys.

Edward continued to grin; seemingly giddy over something none of the other teens had any clue about. "It's a wonderful day, isn't? Hi, I'm Edward and this is Jasper. Yes, he does have beautiful blond curls, but he's also very much taken."

Angela looked shocked before smiling herself. "I told you! I told you Bella!" Edward started giggling. It was such a strange sight it caused everyone at the table to laugh along with him. Jasper began squirming again, but this time out of sheer exhilaration.

"Edward, you really need to calm down." Jasper said with a huge grin on his face.

"I know, but I can't. I thought you were doing it."

Jasper laughed at his brother. The group was starting to get strange looks from the other customers. A waitress walked up to the table and requested orders from the two boys. They both laughed, but managed to ask for coffee, no food.

"Coffee can't possibly be a good idea for you two." Bella said quietly, her own laughter having died down. "You are more wound up than the Energizer Bunny."

"Apologies, really, I don't know what came over me." Jasper apologized.

Angela picked up on the comment immediately. "So how does it work?" Jasper looked surprised, but after a quick turn to his brother, he smiled knowingly. "Do you like control emotions or just feel them? What am I feeling right now?"

"Why is that always the first question?" Edward quipped to Bella; the teen shrugged and watched the interaction between her best friend and the supposed empath. Jasper explained that he felt the emotions from the people nearest him. He could focus in on individuals or small groups, but any crowd over twenty and he couldn't focus as easily. The power he had, as he described it, could also be used on people. He could take any emotion and push it on someone's aura, causing them to be overwhelmed by the emotion. He didn't like using that part as much, but it did come in handy when in a hostile environment. Angela tried to question why Jasper would find himself in so many hostile environments as to find the power useful, but he avoided the question and, apparently, started showing Angela what different emotions felt like.

Bella turned back to her own companion, but was caught off guard when she realized the teen had been staring at her. She jumped in her seat a little, knocking her hand against the diner's middle barrier.

"Are you alright?" Edward's hand was on the back of Bella's head, his other arm reaching around her waist to the small of her back and pulling her away from the barrier. Bella found her breath hard to control for a moment, her heart having gone off on a marathon, but she controlled herself and blushed before slowing pulling herself out of the strong arms. Edward's hands felt cold, hard, but comfortable. A small part of her wanted to stay wrapped up in Edward, but a larger part of her feared the teenager. The thought was entirely illogical and luckily missed by the telepath.

"I'm fine." Bella replied, "No, really, it was a minor slip. I do it all the time."

"She's not lying." Angela spoke from the other side of the table, but instead of joking, like she normally did after Bella committed a small mishap, the teen looked concerned.

Bella looked around the booth to see Angela, Jasper, and Edward all looking over her like she was a glass doll one tap away from shattering. It had seriously been nothing and Angela should have been used to the action. Then Bella realized what was wrong. Without thinking she glared at Jasper, crossing her arms in front of her. "Stop it, Jasper, you're worrying everyone."

The male teen blinked, realized his mistake and said, "Sorry miss, I didn't realize I was…"

"Yeah, I know, I probably messed up your crazy with my crazy." Bella smiled a shy smile, barely letting it part her lips.

"Oh, so you actually believe us now?" Edward asked, his crooked grin covering his face.

Bella frowned at the bronze haired boy. "I don't." She said deftly, "But Angela does and she's never wrong. Ever."

Angela smiled brilliantly, nodding her head. "It's true." She said modestly.

"So don't make her wrong." Bella finished, unperturbed by Edward's knowing smile or Jasper's shy grin.

"Well then, best buddy," Edward spoke, sliding closer to Bella and reaching his arm around her shoulder. "Tell us all about our new high school."

Slinking into her seat a little, but not dislodging herself from the intimate contact this time, Bella gestured for Angela to begin her welcoming committee spiel. As her best friend spoke, Bella thought about Edward and what it was about him exactly that made her heart race and her breath quicken. She continued to wonder about the difference in reaction to the boy compared to her reaction around his sister. The conversation grew and wondered for another hour before the teens eventually left the diner and parted ways.

Bella finally felt comfortable with the idea of being friends with the two crazy boys. But the thought of being seen with the boys in school, and the thought of Rosalie, simply Rosalie, overwhelmed the teen. Something about her, about her presence, about her touch, about her cold strong hands. She was different, they all were. For the first time in her life, Bella felt anxious about going to school the next day.

**A/N: The description of the Cullen's house is closer to the book than the movie. For a visual, I used this house here: **wwwDOTkatzhomeDOTcom/greek_revivalDOThtm**. All locations used can be found via Google maps. I don't know exactly where the Cullen's lived in the books, so I made that up, and I also put Bella in a random location on the end of King Richards Way. That just made sense for a vampire to easily sneak to without being noticed at any time of day. This should be helpful in later chapters.**

**Now, here are some replies to reviews:**

**[Malice Mirandy Forever Always] – Rosalie's emotions were being messed with because of Jasper and Bella's close proximity. I hope I explained it well enough in this chapter. The two of them will be working on the problem together in the near future so it doesn't happen too often.**

**[Guest] – I didn't mean to make Bella so cringe-worthy. Please let me know if I make it worse or better as the story continues.**

**[lux] – This chapter started with detail, but I'm working on finding a median between details and story. Keep after me if I continue down the Tolkien path of describing rocks.**

**[Guest] – The reason I am allowing Edward to be able to read Bella's mind is because I think Bella's character was a bit too much of a Mary Sue. Right from the beginning she was more powerful than the Volturi and by the end of the series Bella was the most powerful vampire in the world. In my story, as a human Bella has no knowledge over her power or gift and therefore no control. The more she learns, the more she'll be able to block Edward and other vampires.**

**Everyone else thanks for the reviews, and I will be keeping the PoV to just Bella. Rosalie will show up later, but never for a whole chapter, at least not as of now. **

**So, what did you think of this chapter? How do you see Bella and Edwards or Bella and Jaspers relationships growing? Do you love pancakes?**


	3. Chapter 3: Attraction

**Title:** Intrinsic Fascination

**Author:** pantheradraconis

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Bella/Rosalie

**Summary:** The world is filled with billions of people; a new breath is taken every second. A last breath is taken as well. But the cycle continues, on and on; who would bother noticing when someone doesn't quite fit into this cycle…

**Chapter 3: Attraction**

"_Attraction is beyond our will or ideas sometimes.__"_ -Juliette Binoche

**Bella finally felt comfortable with the idea of being friends with the two crazy boys. But the thought of being seen with the boys in school, and the thought of Rosalie, simply Rosalie, overwhelmed the teen. Something about her, about her presence, about her touch, about her cold strong hands. She was different, they all were. For the first time in her life, Bella felt anxious about going to school the next day.**

Outside the strangely empty cafeteria, the sky, although clouded, was bright and regenerating. The day held a warm breeze and the chances of rain were slight. It was a day any teen in Forks High School cherished, and many of them took full advantage of it by sitting outside for lunch. The picnic tables scattered across the lawn near the open glass doors were full with laughing, chattering kids enjoying the wonderful day.

Inside the cafeteria sat Bella, glowering as she stared across the way towards the last table inside the room. There, set precociously on the table itself, sat one Rosalie Hale. The blonde laughed, letting her hair fall freely across her back, before leaning forward and tracing her fingertip along Tyler Crowley's forearm. A small, primal part of Bella wanted her to growl in response, but only a disappointed sigh escaped her lips. She thought she heard an actual growl from the beefy Cullen boy sitting a few seats away from her, but the idea was so silly she barely let it sink into her thoughts.

A cough from her left brought Bella's attention away from the nightmare before her. Looking up she saw the crooked grin on Edward and she sighed once again. The bronze haired boy had somehow managed to be in every one of Bella's classes and therefore followed her around like a little lost puppy. Angela had found the exchange to be endearing, but Bella found his actions to be a bit unsettling. Sure, Edward was her friend, they had been friends for a whole 24 hours now, but that hardly constituted stalker treatment.

The smile left his face and Edward spoke, "What are you thinking about?"

Bemused, Bella quipped, "Aren't you supposed to already know?"

"I do, or that is, I did."

"Well, isn't that informative. Now that you've cleared things up for everyone…"

"Yes, well you didn't let me explain." Edward cut Bella off. "I can read you well enough when I'm concentrating on you and only you. You love the smell of rain in the morning, you hate your math teacher, and you wish the cafeteria had edible food. Now that one, I can agree with; this food it quite," Edward picked up his half eaten sloppy joe, allowing the messy meat to drip back onto his tray. "Well, let's just let that one be what it is." The teen turned his head upwards and gestured towards his sister with his chin. "But when you're thinking about her, your mind becomes guarded and hard to follow. I can pick out words and sometimes ideas, but I have no idea what it is you think about when you look at Rose."

"That is quite interesting." Jasper's voice came from Bella's right side where the teen sat with his girlfriend Alice. The two had been in deep conversation or some sort of not-for-public- staring contest; Bella hadn't been too sure which. The teen's voice was low and a little husky as if it hadn't been used in days. "I have the opposite reaction from you, Bella. Whenever you are concentrating on Rosalie, or more specifically when the two of you are in close proximity, your emotions seem to glow." Seeing the confused look on Bella's face, Jasper frowned, but tried to explain himself. "It is as if I am looking at you through a heat scanner, and your aura is glowing white; your emotions are so prominent they are on fire."

The idea of emotions being on fire, for some strange reason, made perfect sense to Angela, who, sitting on the opposite side of Edward, looked to be bursting with excitement. Bella had never known her friend to be so excited about something other than photography, but she figured it must be a good thing if it made her friend happy.

The skinny brunette spoke in a loud whisper as if the group were conspiring together. "That is fascinating, Jasper. Do you see everyone in shades of red, green and gold? Are certain emotions easier to see? Is it always obvious who is giving off what emotion? Your gift is simply amazing."

Bella worried her friend was being too forward with the teen boy, but Edward leaned in to her and whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, she's intrigued and a little obsessed, but not in love. Her feelings are entirely platonic and harmless." Edwards's words were warm against her skin, and Bella thought she felt the boy's lips graze her ear before he leaned back. She reached her hand up and touched the edges of her ear carefully, a motion she had seen actresses recreate after a first kiss. She then looked across the room to see a set of dark eyes staring at her.

A loud scratching noise made Bella jump in her seat. She watched as an angry Emmett stood from the table marched up to Rosalie and grabbed the girls arm. Bella stood, but was quickly pulled back into her seat by Edward; He held her hand under the table and kept the teen from leaving her chair. Bella didn't feel threatened or hurt in any way, but the action was intimate and controlling; it made her worried, but not as worried as she was about the scene on the other side of the cafeteria. Rosalie and Emmett looked to be in the middle of an argument, but Bella couldn't hear anything and wasn't sure if either of the teens lips were moving. Tyler stood up and tried to push Emmett back, but the bulky teen didn't even acknowledge the star shooting guard. Bella thought for certain a fight was about the break out and the rest of the school, including a small group of those outside who had noticed the altercation, seemed to believe the same as they stared and pointed. While the commotion rose, Bella saw Jasper grasp the table with white knuckles and she worried if a fight did break out whether he would faint, or flip out. She still wasn't entirely sure how the empath thing worked. Not knowing what else to do, and still being held in place by Edward, Bella stared at Rosalie willing the blonde teen to look at her. The moments passed, the group of onlookers grew, and Emmett's temper continued to rise more and more, but finally the blonde looked back at the small teen. Silently pleading for the chaos to end, Bella tried to express her feelings through her eyes; she tried to allow her thoughts and wishes to carry across the room, across the noise, across the tempers and the commotion, right into Rosalie's mind.

But it didn't work. The bell rang and the crowd slowly dispersed making their way to their individual classes. The movement momentarily blocked Bella's view and when everyone cleared away Tyler stood next to the table looking around bewildered and Emmett and Rosalie were nowhere to be found.

Edward's hand squeezed Bella's under the table and she turned to look at the tall boy. Even sitting down the bronze haired teen was nearly a foot above her and it made Bella feel small and powerless. Trying not to think about anything Bella stood from the table, emptied her tray in the trash, and made her way down the hall to class. It wasn't until she sat down in Biology, when Edward finally let go, did Bella realize she had walked down the hall hand in hand with the boy. Class was over in a blink of the teen's eye.

"How did you do that?" Jessica questioned enthusiastically while pulling Bella into the girls locker room; her last class of the day being gym.

"Do what?" The teen sat on a bench between two rows of lockers. The room smelled of berries and vanilla, and the sound of chirping girls was giving Bella a headache. She didn't understand why she had been pulled into an interrogation by Jessica, Lauren, and two of their lackeys, Katie and Jen. Katie smiled shyly her red hair big and tangled into a bun, but Jen wore a smirk that always meant Bella was about to be humiliated. The teen girl wasn't necessarily mean, but being the volleyball and track captain caused a bit of friction between her and Bella whenever they were teamed together in P. E.

"What is the deal with you and one Edward Cullen?" Lauren leaned against a locker across from Bella, staring at her nails and pretending she didn't really care about the answer. Bella knew all too well Lauren was jealous, which made the teen giggle.

"What's so funny?" Jen asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

"This is a waste of time."

"But I want to know when all of this happened." Lauren and Jessica argued.

All four teens were staring down at Bella, curiosity written all over their faces and Bella barely knew what was going on. The changing room started to clear out so Bella decided to use class as an excuse to get out of the spotlight, but before she could open her mouth another student walked into the locker room.

Coach Clapp's husky voice could be heard calling from the gymnasium. "Your locker will be on the end, just ask one of the girls in there. And do hurry, we begin volleyball today."

A short, black haired girl danced her way into the locker room, smiling and humming to herself. Jen and Katie rushed out of the room, having changed before Bella and Jessica had come in, and made their way excitedly to class, Jen explaining her new serve to her shorter friend.

"Hi Bella," It was the first time Alice had spoken to her since their first meeting in the library, but the words were said like the pair had been old friends. "And you're Jessica and Lauren, right?" She pointed to each in turn, a sparkling smile covering half her face. Jessica laughed and began chatting up a storm; even Lauren seemed to lighten up a bit, greeting the short teen with a kindness Bella didn't realize the corn-silk haired girl possessed, at least not since Junior High. Bella looked at Alice curiously, wondering if she could control people's emotions like her boyfriend could.

Her thoughts were broken up by Jessica's question. "So you must know. When and how did Edward and Bella become a pair? I mean, like, it really is just your first day here, right?"

Alice's smile turned into a smirk and she winked at Bella. "They met on Friday, at the library."

"Now, wait, I…" But Bella never got to finish her sentence.

Coach Clapp's voice yelled into the locker room, echoing against the metal lockers. "Let's go ladies!"

The conversation was broken up. Lauren wrapped a cloth hair band around her head and walked out while Bella and Jessica quickly changed. The two girls rushed out the changing room with Alice in tow. The pixie-like teen explained to the coach how she wasn't prepared for class and didn't have the appropriate clothing, but she now knew where the changing room was and her locker. Bella was shocked at how easily the lie escaped Alice's lips, but it seemed harmless enough. Alice must have just assumed she would find it the next day and not have to worry. The small teen then wondered over to the bleachers and took a seat next to Emmett. Bella was shocked to see the husky boy, but she wasn't surprised by his obviously annoyed expression. The two siblings were immediately locked in a heated discussion, but within a few minutes, just as long as it took Coach Clapp to explain the basics of Volleyball and split the students into four teams, Alice and Emmett were laughing so hard it caused a small scene.

"Now Mr. Cullen, I agreed to allow you watch class today, but not at the expense of Ms. Cullen's learning. If you will kindly move on to the library so that Alice can keep her attention on the volleyball games, I would appreciate it."

Emmett laughed, a loud booming laugh that caused all the girls in the room to giggle, Bella included. "Alrighty, Coach. Sorry for the intrusion. And thanks again."

Bella watched as the burly teen walked across the gym floor and out the door. She wondered what could have made the change in the boy. He had seemed to be hostile in the lunch room, and even at the beginning of class, which he apparently wasn't even a part of, but then his entire personality seemed to switch around. Was Emmett a playful, pleasure or was he someone to watch out for? Bella pondered the thought for a while before being promptly hit in the head with a volley ball. She spent the rest of the class avoiding Mike's apologizes.

….

The rest of the week Bella avoided Rosalie at all costs. Strangely enough, the blonde seemed to have settled into a sort of school-trance like state. After Monday's lunch fiasco, Rosalie was never seen to be with Tyler or any other Forks High School boy. In fact, Bella noticed that the teen spent all of her time either with Alice or with Emmett, but she still walked around the halls looking like she owned the school and everything and everyone in it. Bella imagined Rosalie to be the epitome of a 'teen drama' popular girl. She was tall, absolutely beautiful, wanted by everyone, and completely untouchable.

Something about their first meeting in the library, about the way she searched for Bella and how she reached out so affectionately to the shorter girl, made Rosalie that much more frustrating to Bella. The younger teen just couldn't understand why someone would set the trap, place the bait, capture the poor defenseless prey, and then walk away as if they were bored. Why bother in the first place? Was she too easy? Was she not even worth trying out? Bella became disgusted with herself. Why did she want this stranger so badly? Especially after the way the teen had treated her?

"Are you thinking about her again?" Angela's voice was teasing, but soft and hinted at just enough concern to cause Bella to smile in response.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." The teen leaned forward against the large reception desk, her face covered by her hands. "I can't even understand why I would still want her. What possible redeeming qualities could an ice queen like that have?"

The two teens were finishing up their Friday evening shifts at the library. They had already walked around the building and made sure no one was hiding in a corner reading or locked in a bathroom stall.

"I don't think she's as bad as she acts." Angela responded. Her eyes drifted around the room, loosing focus. Bella wasn't sure if her friend was talking to herself or conversationally. "She's quite a mystery. I think there is a part of her that she keeps hidden from the rest of the world. In fact, she reminds me of Dorian Gray in a lot of ways. I have no doubts she practices hedonism to the fullest and we both know that only one type of person would do that."

Bella tried to think of a response, but Angela sounded a bit like a book report to her at the moment. So she did what she would normally do when a teacher asked a rhetorical question while looking in her direction: she shrugged and sighed. Luckily, her friend concluded her rant.

"Rosalie must have felt a great deal of pain at some point in her life and now she's trying desperately to feel anything, but pain."

The idea that anything horrible could have happen to such a confident woman baffled Bella, but at the same time she trusted Angela and her ability to read people. The brunette teen decided to trust her friend, as she always did, and resolved to look deeper into the heart of Rosalie Hale.

The clock struck 6pm and Angela turned away from her friend and made her way to the front doors. Bella waited at the desk, chin settled in her hands, for Angela to lock the front doors. After she was done, the two would collect their school bags and Bella would walk her friend home before backtracking towards her own house. The routine of it all was so standard for Bella that when Angela came back to the desk and suggested they parted ways that Bella didn't know what to say. She stared at her friend, but Angela just smiled and waved goodbye before making her way back up to the exit. Bella stood alone in the library for a few seconds watching the large lights go out three at a time. When only the security lights were left and the front door squeaked open and shut loudly, the short teen finally gathered her book bag and jacket and made her way to the exit, alone.

The evening was cool; a sure sign that autumn had reached the small town. Bella stood in front of the library door, bag slung over her shoulder, clutching her jacket at her chest. A shiver stretched across her core and caused her body to shake uncontrollably. If one were not paying close attention, the trembling girl would go unnoticed, but to a trained, watchful eye the action was abrupt and severe.

"You should have a warmer jacket."

The voice was low, dark, and terrifying. If Bella had never heard it before she certainly would have turned tail and run all the way home. Instead, the teen shivered more severely, but her feet remained unmoved.

Bella couldn't decide if the voice of Rosalie was that of a wild beast or of a beautiful angel. Her words were simple and softly spoken, but the way the beautiful teen stood in the shadows of the large oak trees, the way the sound carried over the wistful wind, even the way the night seemed to welcome the blonde, envelope her, made the teen a danger.

It was then Bella realized that it wasn't Rosalie who kept her distance from the rest of the school all the past week, but instead the students seemed to have taken a step back from the statuesque blonde. And not just from her, but from her twin brother Jasper and from the giant Emmett and even the two most basic teens of the adopted family, Edward and Alice. Something about the teens was different, just a little bit off, and that caused a ridge between them and the rest of the school. There had been times when Bella would see Jessica and Lauren talking with Alice, or Tyler, Mike, and Ashley speaking with Edward, but there was never a one-on-one conversation; there was never a time when Bella saw a Cullen with an individual student. Even Angela only seemed to speak with Edward and Jasper when Bella was also around.

Why was that? What was it about these teens that caused individuals to keep their distance? And was it that same thing, this feeling Bella was currently experiencing, that created the distance? Was she afraid?

Bella let out a cool breath, the air fogging her vision for a moment. She shook her head and took a step forward. There was nothing to be afraid of, Rosalie was just another teen. A beautiful, breathing taking, amazing woman, but Bella needed to see her as just another teen.

"Let me get that for you." Rosalie's voice came from mere inches in front of Bella and caused the shorter teen to flinch away. She quickly caught herself and pretended nothing had happened, but Rosalie slowed her movements, a sure sign she had seen the flinch. Bella blushed, but passed her book bag over and thanked the older teen. "Do you always work the graveyard shift?"

Small talk, okay, you can do small talk, Bella thought to herself. "Yeah…" Her voice came out in a small, unfriendly sounding huff. Bella mentally smacked her forehead calling herself an idiot.

Rosalie, much to the smaller teen's relief, smiled at the interaction. "I like the graveyard shift."

They began walking down the sidewalk, past the library and various town buildings. They made their way through the center of town where the diner, grocery store, and other various needs buildings were located. All the while the conversation continued with a difficulty Bella couldn't understand. They talked about the library and the town, they spoke about the lack of traffic and the true definition of jaywalking, but each topic was separated by an awkward silence. As they entered the residential neighborhood Bella sighed and chanced a glance at her beautiful companion. Rosalie was staring off into the distance and frowning. Bella knew for certain the teen regretted walking the small brunette home and wished she could think of something intelligent or witty to say.

Instead, the only words that escaped Bella's lips were, "I'm sorry."

Rosalie looked over confused. "I'm sorry? What are you sorry for?"

The teen sounded angry, but Bella wasn't sure if she was just overthinking the situation. "I'm sorry you came all the way to the library to walk me home and I can't even bother to keep a conversation about the weather interesting." Bella felt her throat tighten and feared she would lose control and start crying in the middle of Robin Hood Loop. A memory of riding her bike around the street and hitting the curb at a weird angle popped into Bella's head; At six years of age, the small girl had scraped most of her knee clean off. Something about the memory made the teen angry. Over ten years later and she still couldn't control her emotions in public, but before Bella lost her head and started bawling into the night, another thought took precedence. "Where is your car?"

Rosalie blinked a few times before replying. "I, well you see, I got a ride."

"You got a ride? To the library?"

"Yes."

"And now you're walking me home?"

"Well, yes."

"And then what, you're going to get picked up at the library again? Is someone waiting for you there? How are you getting home?"

Rosalie frowned at the inquisition. "Do you really need to know all of the specifics?"

"No, but," Bella shrank back into herself. She hadn't meant to ask so many questions, but the peculiarity of the situation deemed questioning. "I just don't understand."

"What is it that you don't understand?" Rosalie was getting frustrated with the conversation, Bella was certain of that much.

"Why?" Before the tall blonde could ask Bella to explain further she continued, "Why would you bother? With all of it? Why would you get a ride to the library just to walk me home? And don't look at me like that, I'm being serious." Bella tried to ignore the smile creeping up on Rosalie's lips. "You have all but ignored me all week, ever since you started school, and now you just show up at my job to walk me home?"

Rosalie side stepped the brunette at the corner of Robin Hood Loop and King Richard's Way. The statuesque teen placed her hand under Bella's chin lifting the teen's eyes to look into her own. Bella shivered slightly as she watched the blonde teen's eyes shimmer from lilac to black. She felt the distance between their bodies shrink as Rosalie reached around Bella's waist and pulled the teen into an intimate embrace. The blonde took a deep breath, inhaling the very essence of Bella, before she spoke.

"My dear Bella, you mustn't question so many things." She leaned in closer and Bella thought her heart was going to beat straight out of her chest. "There are things you don't know about me. Things you can't begin to understand." Her eyes shimmered from black to almost red before darkening even more. Bella wondered if she was still looking into someone's eyes or if her vision had grown dark. "There is something about you." Rosalie allowed her lips to graze Bella's as softly as a breeze through her hair. "Something that I crave," Her tongue streaked across her teeth touching Bella's own lips. "Something I cannot live without," The blonde turned Bella's chin to the side and leaned into the delicate girl's neck. Bella felt the teen inhale once more, her mouth opening against Bella's bare skin. There was a sharp piercing sensation, like a razors cut when shaving, followed by a new feeling Bella had never felt before. It was as if she was living an out of body experience, as if her body was on fire, but it was a fire incased by ice. Everything the teen felt she couldn't explain, she couldn't understand, she couldn't even believe was real.

Suddenly there was a distance between her and Rosalie. The distance was filled with loss, depression, and anxiety. Bella opened her eyes, not even realizing they had closed, and took a step closer to Rosalie, but the look the teen gave her froze her steps. Rosalie looked scared, confused, and anxious, all emotions Bella wouldn't have believed the ever confident teen could even possess, but the emotions were all too obvious as the unguarded blonde began to shiver and pace.

Before Bella could opened her mouth or even think of anything to say, the two were interrupted by a car driving up the quiet street. The silver Volvo stopped next to them, the passenger window rolled down and Edward leaned over the empty seat.

"Rosalie, what are you doing here?" Seeing the strange way the two teens were standing, Edward turned to Bella and began questioning their situation. "Bella, are you okay? What happened? What are you two doing out here so late?"

Bella pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked the time, nearly midnight. When had it gotten so late? She turned back to Rosalie to see the teen was composed with all traces of the past few minutes gone from her face.

"Eddie boy, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

Edward frowned at the nickname. "I came looking for you. Alice said you had most likely gotten yourself in over your head. Her words, not mine." The teen looked back over at Bella, but continued speaking to his sister. "What is it that you've done this time, Rosie?" As his eyes scanned over her body, Bella instinctively brought her hand up to her neck. By Edward's reaction it was the wrong move to make. The teen forcibly set his car into park and jumped out of the vehicle. He swiftly made his way to Bella, concern mixed with frustration and anger shone brightly in his eyes as he did a once over of the shorter teen. Bella at once felt frail and insignificant. She wrapped her arms around her upper body and attempted to keep herself from shivering. Edward turned back to his sister and the two began a staring contest, one Bella knew must contain words, but she simply could not hear anything.

After a moment of silence, Rosalie swiftly made her way to Bella's side and grasped the girl's shoulders tightly. The motion was meant to be encouraging and comforting, but instead Bella grew stiff and her 'fight or flight' instincts kicked in. She mentally cursed herself wondering why her instincts hadn't worked earlier when she was alone with Rosalie, but a part of her knew it had something to do with Edward being there. Perhaps she feared Edward more than she feared Rosalie. Perhaps it was the combination of the two teens together. Perhaps she shouldn't be trying to examine her inner most impulses and intuitions while surrounded by the very people that seemed to confuse them.

"I was just walking Bella home, Edward. No need to worry."

"There is always something to worry about when it comes to you, my dear sister."

Bella wasn't sure if the two were being civil for her sake or if the strangely sarcastic interaction was the norm for the two adopted siblings. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and tried not to lean into Rosalie's hold. Bella's emotions were still so tangled up she wasn't sure if Rosalie made her feel safe or vulnerable.

The tall blonde merely smiled at her brother not bothering with a verbal response.

"What exactly are your intentions with Bella?" Edward asked calmly, but his hands were balled into fists and his jaw was set. Bella wondered if the teen was jealous of Rosalie and Bella's close proximity. After the first day of school, Bella had made a point not to hold Edward's hand or lean into him and whisper jokes, she had never meant to lead the bronze haired boy on, but he was such a good listener and always seemed fascinated in anything she had to say. It was inevitable the two would become fast friends. Bella knew she would have to make a point to have a conversation with Edward about his intentions with her, but at that very moment she also wanted to know Rosalie's answer to the question. She looked up at the blonde teen only to see her bright lilac eyes looking at her menacingly.

"Why to seduce her of course." Rosalie's voice was dark and full of a promise Bella wasn't sure she wanted to experience. She shivered in response, barely keeping her legs from buckling under the emotional weight.

Edward growled in response, an action Bella didn't understand, but couldn't be bothered to wonder about. He stepped forward, but Rosalie tightened her grip on Bella's shoulder and turned their two bodies away from the bronze haired teen. Bella wasn't sure if she was walking or being lifted above the ground by the surprisingly strong blonde; all she knew for certain was her anxiety was growing, but her body was wrongfully trustful of Rosalie's protective grasp and predatorial claim on Bella herself.

"Don't worry dear brother, Alice told me to become more familiar with our sweet friend here. And she's never wrong, now is she?"

As they reached her front porch Bella should have been wondering how it was that Rosalie knew where she lived. She should have been wondering about the cryptic way Rosalie and Edward spoke about her, or about the comments the teens made about Alice seeming to know things she couldn't possibly know, at least not with the amount of certainty they all seemed to believe with. Bella should have been wondering about the almost kiss she had had with Rosalie and the sensation she had felt. She should have been wondering a lot of things about her strange evening.

Instead, Bella had one question on her mind. "Will you go out with me?"

Rosalie smiled in response. All presence of the last few hours erased from her features. Bella wondered for a short moment if the night had really happened the way she remembered it, but the thought wasn't important to her at that moment. "Did you mean to say, 'how are you' again? Or is this a real question." Rosalie spoke with all the confidence of a politician and it made Bella feel self-conscious. She looked down at her feet, trying not to show her fear of being rejected, but she knew it was all for naught. She felt a hand push some loose strands of hair behind her ear. Bella looked up to see smiling eyes and slightly parted lips. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt Rosalie's fingers twist into her hair. "When was it you wanted to go out?"

Bella gulped visibly, but forced her voice to answer. "Tomorrow night. That is, if you aren't already busy. If you are, we can reschedule, but…" Her voice disappeared into the quiet night while she waited in anxiety ridden anticipation.

Taking a step closer so their bodies were pressed up against each other and her cool breath lingered against Bella's lips, Rosalie smiled coyly. "Pick me up at 7?" Bella tried to keep herself from swooning in Rosalie's arms. She nodded slowly in response as she lost herself in the bright lilac eyes staring deep into her very being. Rosalie leaned in, once again brushing her lips against Bella's, not quite a kiss, but so close Bella could taste it.

It was at that moment Edward's silver Volvo pulled up in front of Bella's house and the two teens stepped back from one another. Alice's head poked out the passenger side door window and her bell-like voice called into the night. "Aw, are we interrupting something?" The words sounded innocent enough, but it was obvious to Bella Alice knew exactly what she interrupted. "Let's go Rose! We have less than 24 hours to pick out something for you to wear on your date tomorrow!" Bella cranked her head over to Rosalie in confusion, but the blonde merely rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her arms were crossed and she was leaning back on her left leg. The way she held her body was at ease, but Bella couldn't help, but read the language as defensive and uncomfortable. She wondered if the change was because of her, or because of the two intruders. Bella's head was swarming with questions, but she hesitated to ask anything. She barely knew where to begin in her own thoughts, how would she be able to voice anything coherently? "And don't worry Bella, we'll talk soon enough." Bella wasn't entirely sure what Alice was talking about, but she nodded slowly and tried to pretend she was comfortable with everything that was going on. "Well, we have to go now; Chief Swan is going to be home soon, so you should probably get to bed Bella. Let's go Rose."

In a blur of slow motion, Bella took her bag from Rosalie, waved a goodbye to Edward and Alice and watched the Volvo drive off into the night. She made her way into her house and mechanically went about her business. Dropping her keys into the bowl on the table and kicking off her shoes, Bella forwent dinner, dropped her bag on the floor by the stairs and made her way up to bed. She stared out the window in the darkness, head still swarming with thoughts and ideas and visions, none of which she could explain. One thing finally came to the forefront of her mind and brought a smile to Bella's lips. She said yes, Rosalie said yes. They were going on a date tomorrow night. Bella let the exciting news sink in while she quickly changed into her pajamas. Bursting with a new found energy, Bella danced her way to the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth. While sloshing around Listerine, something she rarely used, but felt she had a very good reason to improve the scent of her breath, Bella realized she had no idea how to take a girl out on a date. She spit out the mouth wash and quickly ran back to her room. At one in the morning, Bella was amazed Angela was squealing with excitement over her news instead of cursing her for the late night phone call. It took them another hour, and a couple of annoyed cautions to quiet down by Bella's father, but the two thought up a perfect date plan.

**A/N: That chapter took much longer than originally anticipated, but it is complete and went mostly how I planned. I did want to add another scene with Bella and Angela, but decided to keep it for the next chapter so that the story continues at a smooth pace. I want Bella and Rosalie's relationship to grow naturally, but Rosalie has a lot of trust issues and Bella is starting to realize that the Cullen's might have a bigger secret then just a few strange gifts.**

**Speaking of which, Bella and Alice are definitely going to have a long talk and it should explain exactly why Jasper and Edward felt the need to confront Bella about her gifts, thereby voicing their own gifts so freely and quickly. It has nothing to do with them trusting her, if need be they could silence her, but her gift interfering with theirs was causing a very big problem and they needed to know if she had any control over it and whether or not she could possibly be a vampire (or some other supernatural being) herself.**

**Now for the review responses:**

**[Guest] – You have a very good point about Alice having such a powerful gift before being changed, and your comment made me think about Jane and Alec's powers as well. I still believe Bella became the most powerful vampire after she changed and she was able to hone her own gifts unrealistically quickly, but I'll agree with you about her gift being no stronger than those four listed while still human. Thank you for bringing that up. **

**[CatchingStar] – Yeah, I wasn't sure about bring the gifts forward so quickly, but I do have a plan about that, as was explained in my author's note. Let me know if I'm still using too much description, I'm really trying to calm down on it without losing the important parts. **

**[Guest] – I agree with you on the contrast between "gods among men" and the "painfully ordinary" teen, it made the relationships between Bella and the Cullens uncomfortable and, as you said, forced. The Cullens are still mysterious and a bit unapproachable, they are evil, scary vampires afterall, but I'd like to think I made it so they could actually realistically blend in with other humans. Even with Edward's ability to read minds and Alice's ability to see the future, it made no sense that teenagers wouldn't question how/why Meyer's vampires were so obviously different from them. Especially in a small town where all scary movies are set. **

**[ThatCrazyNothing] – Love the name, btw. And I also love Edward's arrogance, I think it makes him an interesting character and fits with the period in which he was born and raised. He's still a likable guy, he's chivalrous and caring, but he's a bit old-fashioned and controlling. He doesn't mean to be and usually doesn't realize he is, but it's a character flaw and makes him more realistic. **

**[Akasha Hallows28] – Don't worry, Eddie boy is staying in the friend zone, despite his attempts. Bella and him are actually going to become quite buddy/buddy once he realizes he lost to his sister, but his interest is also based around his interest in Bella's gift. Once the excitement of meeting another gifted individual, Edward will calm down and embrace the friend zone full heartedly.**

**I'm surprised more of you don't like pancakes, but I prefer eggs myself, so who am I to judge? Don't worry everyone; this is a full blown Bella/Rosalie fanfic and there won't be any awkward Bella/Edward or even more awkward Bella/Mike dating. **

**So, what do you think Angela and Bella have cooked up for Bella and Rosalie's date? I have a pretty good plan, but you may have some great first/second/third date stories, don't you?**


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